Thanks to AllDayPlay.fm’s new streaming radio app, available for android phones, users now have even more music available at their fingertips. The ADP app enables music fiends and fans to access AllDayPlay.fm’s live stream of 34 mix shows on the go. “The app provides one more way for listeners to discover that AllDayPlay provides the most exciting, dynamic and original programming of any radio station in the Bay Area,” says world-renowned DJ Matthew Africa. For those who aren’t familiar with Bay Area music and artists, this app allow’s users a taste of authentic taste of the culture there. Created by high school students involved with Youth Radio who’s interns are also a part of the publishing and promotions staff of AllDayPlay.fm Its truly a testament of the hard work and drive these students have.
Download the app here, and learn more about it here.
(AllDayPlay.FM can also be found in the iTunes Radio directory (in the Eclectic category), the Public Radio Tuner app on the iPhone, facebook, youtube, and twitter.)
The key to any great musician is progression—progression is what it’s all about.
An artists’ music should always get better and not worse as the years go along and with their latest musical installment, Occasion, out November 22nd, Chicago based duo Kidz In The Hall, definitely have progressed.
Four albums in, emcee Naledge and producer Double-O aren’t quite the guys who they were when they initially entered the scene. When listeners were first introduced to the duo, it was with their 2006 debut, School Was My Hustle, a project that penned tracks like, “Go Ill,” and the cheeky “Ms. Juanita.”
Now, five years later, it’s almost as if the duo has graduated from the days of hustling and traded it in for a more confident, braggadocios and commercial sound.
Fans were able to see the project being created at Los Angeles Red Bull studios in their six-part series “Here Now” on MTV2 and the end result surpasses their last project, The Land of Make Believe, easily.
“The album is by far our best work. All artists usually feel that way, but in my honest opinion our mental space wasn’t as positive for the last album. We didn’t rush this project and we made sure we had fun crafting it. Occasion is the soundtrack to letting one’s everyday problems go and focusing on the celebration at hand. Life should be a celebration.”
This project, could potentially take Kidz in The Hall to a more commercial and mainstream level that they were never able to achieve minus, “Drivin Down The Block.” The production on this project, for the most part is pretty good—pay special attention to “Star,” “Break it Down,” “Real Life,” “She’s Smokin,” “Pour It Up,” and “Wont Remember Tonight.” Naledge develops more as an emcee, however, this project doesn’t sound too Kidz in The Hall like, kind of more Kanye West-ish or something of that sort.
With that being said, some of the great tracks on the album start with the pop like, “The Good,” featuring Esthero, which makes for a pretty cool collaboration. This track works as essentially the 2011 “Love Hangover,” featuring Estelle from their sophomore album, The In Crowd. This production on this album is a little on the melancholy side and only fits the overall tone of the track. The simplicity of the chorus, “in case you haven’t noticed, I wanted you to know that, I love you,” not to mention the sweet verses, “I never miss her call, I miss her when she’s gone. Never need the lights on just to turn me on fiending on her touch. Maybe, you can smell me, she can be the one nothing you can tell me,” all make for a great crossover song.
“Make It Up Tonight,” “Crash Dummy” featuring Killa Kyleon, “She’s Smokin,” and “Player of The Year,” featuring Freddie Gibbs are all cool tracks as well. Naledge flows seamlessly over these tracks, not to mention the production on these tracks are all dope as well.
“Star,” and “Won’t Remember,” however, are probably the two most noteworthy tracks on the album. Let’s just say, the production on these two tracks are both great and are easily the marriage of great collaborations, and tracks that would sound amazing live.
First, “Star,” featuring Tabi Bonney and One Chance, I will admit definitely caught me my surprise. I’ve always felt that One Chance was kind of corny (I’m not big into boy bands minus B2K, and NSync) and Tabi Bonney were kind of corny—which I admit, Bonney is wearing me down these days. (I often used “In The Pocket,” as a reference to the corny factor} However, them on this track is cool. This is actually the theme song for the Kidz’ series. The track is a celebration, which is followed by the big band track, “Won’t Remember Tonight,” featuring Ms. Marsha Ambrosius and Anthon Genius, another definite highlight.
The last track on the album, “I Swear,” features a vocal sample that flows through the beat, and is sure to be a big song. Listening to this song, you see the potential that Kidz have on a bigger scale. Overall, as a fan of the duo since the beginning, I feel like a proud mother watching my children blossom into adults. No, I don’t necessarily like every track on this album, however, I think that just gives me something to look forward to for the next project. I was a little skeptical about this project just because I read that it was a more mainstream and commercial project from them, however, I am just glad that perhaps more people will get why I like them.
As an added bonus to this long winded review, I was asked why I liked Kidz in the Hall and was then challenged to write a list of my 10 favorite tracks from them, so here’s the list in no particular order. Pre-order Kidz in The Hall Occasion, here.
- Love Hangover featuring Estelle, The In Crowd
- Ms. Juanita, School Was My Hustle
- Lucifer’s Joy Ride ft. Travis McCoy, The In Crowd
- Mr. Alldatshit ft. Donnis and Chip Tha Ripper The In Crowd
- Inner Me, The In Crowd
- Dumbass Tales, School Was My Hustle
- Day By Day/ We Almost Lost School Was My Hustle
- Go Ill, School Was My Hustle
- I Am (Reprise) Land of Make Believe
- 10. Dream on Ft. Smoke DZA & CURT@!NS Semester Abroad
I am giving away a free pair of tickets to see miss VV Brown in the Bay Area November 8th, and how you win the tickets is pretty simple. From my Examiner page,
In the United States, a reoccurring theme has emerged over the years with English imports selling us their form of “soul,” making many believe there has to be something in the water overseas.
Not much of a fable, these artists do have soul and powerhouse vocals shown with: Joss Stone, Corinne Bailey Rae, Duffy, Amy Winehouse, Adele and the bright eyed beauty VV Brown. In 2010, Brown captivated listeners with her gold-certified, chipper, and jovial track “Shark in The Water,” from her 2010 release, Traveling into the Light (the project was released in UK in 2009). You could not turn on the TV and not hear the track—it was virtually everywhere, literally.
With that project Brown started touring with big name artists like: Maroon 5, Owl City and Little Dragon, even scoring several television spots; Ellen, Rachel Ray, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Late Show with David Letterman, and MTV’s The Buried Life where they followed her documenting her road to stardom.
After taking some time off, Brown is finally returning to the scene with her sophomore release on Capitol Records, Lollipops & Politics, which will be entering stores in early 2012. This project is said to be a stylistic leap for the songstress, and the project was proceeded by the first single from the project, “Children” which was released digitally this past September. The single features Chiddy of Chiddy Bang, and was produced by producer Chuck Harmony.
With that being said, Brown will be performing live at San Francisco’s Rickshaw Shop located at 155 Fell Street @ Van Ness, on November 8th for 5th tour stop of her seven city tour. The show will be opened by Cambo and The Life and did I mention, I am giving away a free pair of tickets to see VV Brown? Well, I am.
Here’s all you have to do; tweet me a message to @bellametaphor, and tell me that you want the tickets and the tickets can be yours.
Continue reading on Examiner.com Win Free Tickets To See VV Brown November 8th – Oakland R&B Music | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/r-b-music-in-oakland/win-free-tickets-to-see-vv-brown-november-8th#ixzz1cQ8vuHDW
My BFF Ms. Special got the chance to catch up with Bambu at Slim’s in San Francisco before his show with The Blue Scholars. They spoke about his #TroyDavis Freestyle, his recent project with Prometheus Brown “Walk Into A Bar” as far as the meaning behind the title, the vision behind the project, the producers on the project and his favorite track “Roshida Jones.” They also spoke about his mysterious project with Sabzi “Inglewood Humperdink” as far as if it will come out, the story behind the title. They also spoke about his Diamond Supply tape with 6Fingers, his last album and what else is next for him including a record with DJ Muggs, and EP with Duke from Psycho Realm and a record with Mystic.
Once again, my BFF Miss Special is the hardest working girl in radio– and no, I am not saying that because she’s my BFF and all but she is. This is another dope interview because it actually introduced me to Bambu. I have heard of him and some of his stuff that I liked, but I never really knew all this about him. Dope! Make sure you check out her weekly show, Special Sundays every Sunday 2-4PST on www.ksfs.sfsu.edu.
Some artists and producers have an affinity for recreating classic tracks and making them sound equally great yet different. Typically, in our culture many producers rather sample these tracks then to completely rework them and that is what sets Seattle based producer Proh Mic apart from those producers.
With his debut album, Rhythm For Days, out today, Proh Mic recreates classics like Nu Shooz “Can’t Wait” and SOS Band’s “Don’t Stop The Music,” as well as using the band as the inspiration for the first leak from the project “Sleep In Girl” featuring Tone Trezure. This project completely sets Proh Mic out of the shadows of producing for artists like The Pharcyde, UNI, Blu, Hawthorne Headhunters, and etc, and puts him in the position to make a name for himself.
The artists that Proh used for collaborations: Georgia Anne Muldrow, Coultrain, Tone Trezure, Jimetta Rose and Uncle Imani of The Pharcyde only add to making this a great project. Listening to this album, there is a definite personal touch as Proh Mic produced every track on this album with the exception of “Optimistic.” With that being said, there are several different highlights on this project, which first begin with the two leaks from the project, “Hit The Floor” and “Sleep In Girl.”
These two tracks have a completely different sound, however, these two tracks perfectly laid out what listeners can expect from the project. “Hit The Floor” featuring Coultrain and Uncle Imani is one of the party tracks on the album. The vocals/verses laid out by the emcee and vocalists as well as the production laid out by Proh, are an ode whether intentionally or not to West Coast culture. “Sleep In Girl” featuring Tone Trezure is a smooth track, and the vocals laid out by Tone Trezure only add to making you fall in love with this track (made me feel that way after all).
Other highlights on the project would be: “Don’t Stop” “Optimistic” “Easy Lovin’ u” “What Cha Gonna Do” “I Can’t Weight” which is a really, really cool remake of The Nu Shooz “I Can’t Wait” except way more funky. Lastly, “Joy Ode To The Tree” is definitely a highlight as well. Make sure you support great music and purchase Proh Mic’s Rhythm Days available here or here.
